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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28616364">Waking Dreams</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karak323/pseuds/Karak323'>Karak323</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Mustang Chronicles [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Family Drama, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 12:28:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,835</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28616364</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karak323/pseuds/Karak323</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Getting to know Madalyn's family is made a bit harder when the ghost of Christmas future decides to pay a visit.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dean Winchester/Original Female Character(s), Sam Winchester/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Mustang Chronicles [10]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1131236</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Waking Dreams</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Waking Dreams</p>
<p>“I’m Jewish, you freak!” a man gasped as another man pressed him firmly to the wall by his throat.</p>
<p>“You can still atone for your sins! Christmas isn’t just about religion – it’s about goodwill towards men and peace on Earth!”</p>
<p>“It’s not even Thanksgiving yet!” The man kept trying to twist out of his attacker’s grip.</p>
<p>“Well, there’s no time like the Present! And it just so happens that I came early this year!”</p>
<p>“What do you want, you weirdo? Here! Take my wallet! There’s nothing in it anyway!”</p>
<p>“I don’t want your money,” the would-not-be mugger spat, “I want you to see the error of your ways!”</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>“You Winchester boys are famous around the circuit, you know.” Alexander lounged on the sofa in the second drawing room where everyone else was also relaxing after their big meal.</p>
<p>“Oh yeah?” the boys shifted, somewhat uncomfortable.</p>
<p>“Sure. Infamous, actually… pulling a stunt like you did back in Wyoming tends to make waves,” he smiled. “Did wonders for my business!”</p>
<p>Sam gave a weak smile.</p>
<p>“I gotta hand it to Colt for hiding that thing in Wyoming, though. I mean, who’d look for it there? Nothing’s in Wyoming!”</p>
<p>“Why didn’t you say anything before?” Madalyn inquired. “If you recognized their names.”</p>
<p>“Who am I to blow a hunter’s cover? Let alone these guys. I figured that, despite the whole opening the portal to Hell thing, that if they were here they were here to help.”</p>
<p>Madalyn snorted.</p>
<p>“How come you never heard anything about the girls on ‘The Circuit’?” Dean asked.</p>
<p>“We tend to cover our tracks, Dean,” Madalyn smirked. He gave a patronizingly fake laugh back.</p>
<p>“What happened to the Colt piece anyway?” Alexander inquired.</p>
<p>“It doesn’t work,” Sam answered. “Nothing more than a real gun now anyway.”</p>
<p>“You know, I know a guy who might be able to help. He lives out in South Dakota and-”</p>
<p>“You mean Bobby?” asked Kara.</p>
<p>“Bobby Singer?” Sam confirmed.</p>
<p>“You know Bobby too?” Alexander asked in surprise.</p>
<p>“That’s who has the Colt,” the hunters all spoke at once.</p>
<p>“Oh,” was Alexander’s reply. “Well, maybe I can help him, then. I’ll swing by.”</p>
<p>“Small world…” Kara commented.</p>
<p>“Too small…” Madalyn muttered. “Well, I think I’m gonna hit the hay,” she announced louder.</p>
<p>Her brother, his partner, and Dean all stood to follow her lead. After everyone exchanged goodnights Sam and Kara were left alone.</p>
<p>“Aren’t sleepovers fun?” Kara asked rhetorically, cuddling up to Sam on the couch.</p>
<p>“Your cousin and his friend seem nice.”</p>
<p>“Isn’t Jack hilarious?”</p>
<p>“He’s certainly very friendly…”</p>
<p>“Are you jealous?”</p>
<p>“What?” Sam scoffed awkwardly.</p>
<p>“Aww,” Kara crooned, “you are jealous!”</p>
<p>“No, I-” stammered Sam.</p>
<p>“You know there’s nothing to be jealous of though, right?”</p>
<p>“What do you mean?”</p>
<p>“Besides the fact that we’ve entered monogamous territory, Mr. Winchester, Andy and Jack are also in a committed relationship.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” was all Sam said but after that he was noticeably more relaxed.</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>Sam woke, alone in his bed, with a dagger in his hand. He had the feeling that he wasn’t the only one in the room.</p>
<p>“Kara?” he whispered hopefully but there was no response, only the lingering feeling of dread.</p>
<p>He flicked on the lights and a large figure was suddenly visible in the far corner.</p>
<p>“Uh… Santa?”</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>Dean woke, alone in his bed, with a dagger in his hand. He had the feeling that he wasn’t the only one in the room.</p>
<p>“Maddie?” he whispered hopefully but there was no response, only the lingering feeling of dread.</p>
<p>He flicked on the lights and a small figure was suddenly visible in the far corner.</p>
<p>“You again!”</p>
<p>A few minutes later, Dean entered the multi-car garage with his keys in hand and ready for a drive to clear his head. He was looking around for the switch to open the door when he caught a glimpse of a gleaming green Thunderbird at the end of the long row of cars. He crept over for a better look and was surprised to see someone inside.</p>
<p>“Maddie? What are you doing out here? And I thought this thing got wrecked...” When she kept staring absently straight ahead and didn’t respond he rapped on the glass.</p>
<p>“Dean!” she said, startled and rolling down the window. “What are you doing up this late?”</p>
<p>“Uh, hello – same question.”</p>
<p>“Oh... I couldn’t sleep.”</p>
<p>“Ditto.” He looked at her worriedly. “Are you okay?”</p>
<p>“Fine,” she muttered, staring back out the front windshield.</p>
<p>“Mind if I sit?”</p>
<p>“Oh, yeah sure.” Maddie responded, though it was clear she was still lost in thought.</p>
<p>As Dean opened the door and sat he prodded “Look, you’re obviously not okay,” concern clear in his tone as he angled himself to face Maddie.</p>
<p>“Dude, I’m fine. Stop bugging me about it,” she shrugged.</p>
<p>“Hey, I’m not usually one for sharing and caring, but you’re a little predictably unpredictable when you get upset.”</p>
<p>“I’m not upset, why would I be upset?”</p>
<p>“Okay, so we both know that's not really true.”</p>
<p>Madalyn suddenly turned sharply towards her companion.</p>
<p>“Dean, you’re going to Hell in less than a year. Don’t you think you should be more worried about that than me, I told you I’m fine and I am.”</p>
<p>He frowned. “Wow, Maddie. A bit harsh don’t you think?”</p>
<p>She turned back around.</p>
<p>“My issue… I did it to myself okay? I know what I signed up for when I made that deal,” Dean argued.</p>
<p>“You’re such a frickin’ idiot, Dean.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I know, but you are too. Why did you try doing this job by yourself?”</p>
<p>“It was personal.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, but you really needed the help. Why didn’t you let us know what you were doing? Especially after we already showed up?”</p>
<p>“It was my thing I had to deal with... And why didn’t you come with Kara if you were going to show up here anyway?”</p>
<p>“She sorta pulled a ‘You’ and took off without saying anything. She’s real worried about you too, ya know.”</p>
<p>Madalyn gritted her teeth. “I told you–”</p>
<p>“You’re fine. I know. How many times are you gonna keep saying that? Until you actually start to believe it yourself? Because from where I’m sitting, you’re not only not fine, but you’re entering Cuckoo’s Nest territory.”</p>
<p>“How would you know? You’ve never read it.”</p>
<p>“It was a book?” Dean caught himself falling for the digression. “My point is that you’ve been through a lot lately, I get that, but you really need to let some of that stuff out or it’s gonna eat you up inside.”</p>
<p>“Maybe you should try taking your own advice, Mr. I’ve-got-it-all-together-but-only-when-I’m-downing-a-bottle-of-whiskey.”</p>
<p>“I saw your sister again, Maddie,” Dean deflected. “I still don’t know what she wants.”</p>
<p>“Revenge might not be a bad guess.”</p>
<p>“I really don’t think she blames you for what happened to her.”</p>
<p>“I could’ve done something.”</p>
<p>“Like what? You were a kid back then, not a hunter. The Rawhead was hard enough for the two of us to gank today. The only thing that would have happened back then was you dead along side your sister”</p>
<p>“Then it should’ve been me.”</p>
<p>“Survivor’s guilt much? That’s what you’ve been carrying around your whole life. Haven’t you learned by now that you can’t live like that?”</p>
<p>“Says the man who sold his soul to bring his brother back from the dead.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, well that was different. We aren’t kids and I knew how to save him.”</p>
<p>Maddie let out a disbelieving laugh. “Yeah… how to save him and sacrifice yourself…”</p>
<p>Dean frowned.</p>
<p>“We sure are a pair, aren’t we.”</p>
<p>“There’s nothing you could have done, Maddie,” Dean insisted.</p>
<p>“You know my parents had a funeral for Jeanie only a month after she ‘disappeared’. They gave up looking for her the night she went missing. What kind of parents do that?”</p>
<p>“Crappy ones.”</p>
<p>“The worst part is… I knew that they were relieved that the bastard didn’t take their ‘good daughter’,” she said bitterly.</p>
<p>“What do you mean?”</p>
<p>“Oh, I was the perfect little angel when I was little. A goody-two-shoes who would always follow the rules and do anything anyone asked… Jeanie was the rebel. She loved to cause all sorts of trouble and I was always there to tattle on her.”</p>
<p>“Rawheads are said to prey on kids who’ve been bad,” Dean conceded.</p>
<p>“They must have been so relieved that it was their problem child that went away.” </p>
<p>“I’m sure your parents–”</p>
<p>“Well, I showed them. I became the rebel. I got kicked out of every boarding school they sent me to.  I don’t even know how I ended up at college: their ‘big disappointment’.”</p>
<p>“Hey, come on. forget them, Maddie. I know from personal experience that some parents just aren’t good about listening to their kids about stuff. Ask Sam, he knows even better than I do what it’s like to want something different than what your parents want from you.”</p>
<p>“It still should’ve been me.”</p>
<p>“And that’s why I did what I did.”</p>
<p>Madalyn only frowned.</p>
<p>Dean sighed. “I’m starting to think there’s a curse on all Winchesters.”</p>
<p>“No,” Madalyn said distractedly, “Our fates… they’re not going the way they’re supposed to.”</p>
<p>“Excuse me?”</p>
<p>“Things aren’t turning out the way they should.”</p>
<p>“Does this have something to do with what that old Chinese guy said that one time? How you saw something… about us?”</p>
<p>Madalyn just pursed her lips tight.</p>
<p>“Maddie, god it's like pulling teeth trying to get you to talk to me!”</p>
<p>“Oh, ‘cause you’re such a regular Gossip Girl.”</p>
<p>“Okay, so I don’t normally spill my guts either, but what you were saying sounds like it pertains to me.”</p>
<p>Madalyn furrowed her brow. “A while back…” she began slowly, “…I was hunting a Djiin and got caught by it instead.”</p>
<p>Dean looked surprised. “No kidding, me too.”</p>
<p>“Then you know how they make you dream about a whole different life?”</p>
<p>“Boy, do I…”</p>
<p>“Well, in my dream I wasn’t a hunter. I had a husband and a nice little house in Battle Creek, MI. Kara was there with her husband and everything was normal.”</p>
<p>“That’s just your subconscious’ wishful thinking.”</p>
<p>“Well sure, that’s what I thought, but I was engaged to Justin at the time and he wasn’t in the dream.”</p>
<p>“I guess Justin wasn’t your ‘dream guy’,” Dean joked.</p>
<p>“No, I guess he wasn’t...” She paused. “You know, I didn’t really break up with Justin because he messed up on that one hunt.”</p>
<p>“What do you mean?”</p>
<p>“I broke up with him because of the Djiin’s dream, and just used my stupid ass getting caught twice in a row as an excuse. That dream just made everything I had with Justin seem so wrong, but I didn’t want to say it like that.”</p>
<p>“Why are you telling me this?”</p>
<p>“Because the guy in the dream – and the guy Kara was with in the dream – we met them in real life.”</p>
<p>“What? When?”</p>
<p>Madalyn’s frown deepened. “The day we met you and Sam.”</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>Sam lay prone on the bed. He could see the figure standing next to him, just out of view, but he couldn’t move or speak.</p>
<p>“Christmas is coming early this year little Sammy Winchester. Now it’s time to see if you’ve been naughty or nice.”</p>
<p>Sam was trying desperately to even blink, but his entire body was paralyzed.</p>
<p>“You’re probably wondering who I am,” the husky man with a white beard assessed correctly. “Well, I’m the Ghost of Christmas Present!”</p>
<p>Sam could only stare.</p>
<p>“I know, crazy right? But it’s true! I’m here to show you the shadows that surround you. The ones that will engulf you if you let them. Usually that’s my cousin’s job, I know, but he’s been slacking.”</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>Dean’s face was priceless. “Us?”</p>
<p>“Minus the hunting, it was you guys to a ‘T’,” Madalyn confirmed, “and it couldn’t have just been my subconscious, because as famous as you guys are on ‘the Circuit’ now, I had never even heard your names before the dream.”</p>
<p>“Then how is that possible?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know. I mean I have intuition in spades, but I’ve never experienced premonitions like that before.”</p>
<p>“But it wasn’t a premonition because it was different. None of us lead that ‘apple pie’ kinda life.”</p>
<p>“You’re right.” Madalyn looked sad. “I was so pissed when I realized that.”</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“That dream… I held on to it for a long time. I just kept waiting for things to turn around. I kept waiting to meet that guy that I would settle down with.” She stared down at her hands in her lap. “When I finally met you… I mean, I recognized you right away... but then I realized you were a hunter and I…”</p>
<p>“You knew that I wasn’t the one you were gonna settle down with.”</p>
<p>“Dean, I know I was kind of a dick when we first met but I was just so angry. I held on to this dream for so long. I thought this whole hunter life had an expiration date. Finding out you were a hunter was devastating.”</p>
<p>Dean remained silent.</p>
<p>“And I didn’t want to start anything up with you because I knew it would never be the way that I had dreamed.”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry I’m not the guy you wanted.”</p>
<p>“That’s not what I meant…”</p>
<p>Dean frowned. “Maddie, if I could… I’d give you that house and that life. Believe me, I’ve seen what it’d be like to live a normal life, and yeah it seems great but… we also wouldn’t be who we are.”</p>
<p>“That’s very deep Dean, I’m impressed,” Madalyn smiled wryly.</p>
<p>“You don’t give me enough credit.”</p>
<p>She almost laughed.</p>
<p>Dean indicated the car. “So how come this thing isn’t a lump of scrap metal in Bobby’s backyard?”</p>
<p>Madalyn pretended to be affronted. “A classic like this? It was way too pretty to let go of, so I had it restored.”</p>
<p>“It doesn’t freak you out?”</p>
<p>“What, that I killed a man in it? And not just any man, my ex-fiancé?”</p>
<p>“Well…”</p>
<p>She opened the door and got out and he quickly followed.</p>
<p>“Are you gonna be okay?” he asked, walking around to her side of the car.</p>
<p>“Next time you see my sister, tell her I said to buzz off.” </p>
<p>“You know, every time she shows up she leads me to you. That’s how Sam and I found out where Kara went. Your sister keeps helping me find you.”</p>
<p>“You’re not responsible for me, Dean.”</p>
<p>“I know, and I know I can’t be your dream guy either…”</p>
<p>“I think I’ve finally given up on that dream. Coming here has made me realize that I can’t escape the ghosts and the ghouls.”</p>
<p>“But you got the thing that killed your sister. I thought that was the only reason you became a hunter in the first place.”</p>
<p>“So, now you think I should retire? You’re the one that said I was a hunter and not a schoolmarm. That we are who we are because of everything.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, but I understand you a little better now. I grew up doing this so it’s all I’ve ever known, and even though it’s not always what I wanted to do this is who I’m meant to be. But you, you have this huge house and this life and I don’t think you ever thought that this is what you were gonna end up doing. And maybe you do have a chance at going back to a normal life.”</p>
<p>“No Dean, you're right. I am a hunter, and it’s not like I can just forget everything I’ve seen and done…”</p>
<p>“Then what are you gonna do?”</p>
<p>She kissed him.</p>
<p>He stepped back. “I can’t settle down with you, Maddie.”</p>
<p>“I know. That’s not what I want anymore.”</p>
<p>“Then what do you want?”</p>
<p>They sank into the wide backseat of the Thunderbird and they both wondered if the radio had been left on because Madalyn was hearing ‘Crimson and Clover’, while Dean swore ‘Bad Company’ was playing over and over.</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>Kara woke with a start, dagger in hand. She had a bad feeling. She checked Madalyn’s room first, but found it empty. Then she checked Sam’s room and found the door locked. She knocked lightly.</p>
<p>“Sam?” she called softly, but got no answer. “Sam?” she asked a little louder and tried the door again. “God that kid sleeps like a moose,” she said to herself and knocked louder. “Sam!” She finally jimmied the lock and got the door open. What she saw inside the room worried her.</p>
<p>Sam was as stiff as a board, lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling. “Sam?” Kara asked again. She shook him, but  he just blinked, his lips parted as if trying to say something. She tried to move him, roll him over, or anything, but he wasn’t exactly as light as a feather.</p>
<p>Kara rushed back out into the hallway to get help. Madalyn and Dean were just coming up the stairs.</p>
<p>“Where have you two been?” she asked suspiciously.</p>
<p>“What? Nothing,” Dean said quickly.</p>
<p>“Nowhere,” Madalyn amended.</p>
<p>Kara’s suspicion was overrun by her concern for Sam. “Something’s wrong,” she reported.</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>Dean stood over his giant of a little brother still lying on the bed. “We’ll figure this out Sammy,” he was saying, “but you need to help us in any way you can. What’s doing this to you?”</p>
<p>Kara was pacing back and forth, wearing a groove into the floor.</p>
<p>Madalyn shook her head. “Physically he seems fine, but he seems trapped mentally. Did he seem out of sorts to you lately? Has any of his psychic stuff been going on?”</p>
<p>“Not since before... you know...” Dean trailed off.</p>
<p>“He was fine!” Kara confirmed.</p>
<p>“There you are!” Alexander exclaimed from the doorway. “What’s going on? Elle, I was looking for you, something’s wrong with...” he caught sight of Sam. “Him too?”</p>
<p>“Too?” Madalyn asked.</p>
<p>“Yeah... Elle, something’s wrong with Jack. He’s all... well, like that!” he gestured to Sam.</p>
<p>“Well, I guess we can rule... uhm, other factors... out then,” Madalyn decided.</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“Nothing. Let’s have a look at Jack.” Madalyn followed her brother out of the room.</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>“You’ve been keeping secrets, Jackie,” Christmas Present was saying to Jack’s prone figure. “Now it’s time to fess up! To atone for your sins so that your future may be bright and merry!” the ‘ghost’ boomed, then his voice grew dark. “But first you must see what will happen if you don’t.”</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>Sam awoke on a couch in a run down shack. He looked around at the piled up dishes and debris. Someone had been staying here for some time. A noise came from the kitchen area that caught his attention. It looked like a woman was moving around in there.</p>
<p>“Kara?” he called.</p>
<p>The woman came more into view. “You promised me you’d never say that bitch’s name ever again.” She flipped her long dark hair with one hand and offered him a sandwich with her other. “Here.”</p>
<p>Sam looked around again, still confused. “Where’s Dean?” he asked.</p>
<p>“Uhh... how hard did you hit your head last night? He’s in Hell, Sammy.”</p>
<p>The last sentence was like a blow to the stomach. “What? Already?”</p>
<p>“What do you mean ‘already’, Sam? He’s been gone for months now!” She put the sandwich down on a low table next to the couch. “Are you okay?”</p>
<p>Fuzzy images tried forming in Sam’s brain. “I- I’m just thirsty.”</p>
<p>“I bet you are,” the woman said with concern. “You’re probably just a little weak, you need to drink.” She offered him her arm.</p>
<p>Sam just looked at it quizzically.</p>
<p>“Come on, drink up!” she gestured for him to take her arm. “What, do you want a straw?”</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. “Fine.” She took a small knife off the table and made a neat slice down her forearm. “Here,” she offered again. Her eyes flicked all black and Sam gave a jump backwards.</p>
<p>“Whoa!” He scrambled for something to defend himself from the demon.</p>
<p>“Really, Sam? Still? I’ve been helping you out ever since Dean went down to the Pit - hell, we’ve even slept together - and you still jump whenever you see my eyes? That’s racist, you know.”</p>
<p>“What the hell is going on?” Sam demanded. “Who are you?”</p>
<p>“Man, you really must’ve hit your head hard, Sammy... It’s Ruby... Remember? Now drink up! You need your strength! We’ve got a lot of practicing to do if you want to get the exorcism thing down.”</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>“See?” Alexander nervously waited while Madalyn checked Jack over. “Something woke me up, I don’t know what, but I turned over and he was like this!”</p>
<p>Jack looked horrified, yet remained motionless.</p>
<p>“What do you think it is, Elle?”</p>
<p>Madalyn considered for a moment. “It’s reminiscent of my own bouts of Sleep Paralysis, but they usually only last a few minutes.”</p>
<p>“Sleep Paralysis?”</p>
<p>“Yeah. It’s where the term “nightmare” comes from. It’s a state between being awake and dreaming where you’re conscious, but your body’s still in the state of paralysis it maintains during sleep to keep you from accidentally hurting yourself. People who experience sleep paralysis often feel a sense of terror and helplessness, as if something’s coming after them.”</p>
<p>“This has happened to you before?”</p>
<p>“Not like this, but yeah, on several occasions actually.”</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>“Okay.” Kara was sitting on the bed next to Sam’s still figure with her laptop fired up. “It says here that, “ although rare, recurrent isolated sleep paralysis episodes can sometimes last up to several hours,”... Do we just wait then? To see if they wake up?”</p>
<p>Madalyn shook her head. “Neither of them have experienced this before, right?”</p>
<p>“No, but it says that it usually doesn’t develop until after 25 years of age.”</p>
<p>“Two people on the same night? In the same house?”</p>
<p>“Coincidence?” Kara suggested.</p>
<p>“Yeah, right. Coincidence,” Dean scoffed from where he stood, arms folded, by the window. “Nothing happens to us by coincidence.”</p>
<p>“What else does it say?” Madalyn encouraged.</p>
<p>“Sleep paralysis is often accompanied by feelings of dread and the sense that there is an evil lurking in the room, such as an incubus sitting on one’s chest causing suffocation.”</p>
<p>“Wait, and incubus? Do you think it could be that?” Dean asked.</p>
<p>“I don’t think a real incubus acts like that,” Madalyn countered. “They maintain a visible form.”</p>
<p>Kara continued reading. “Folklore around the world includes stories about incubi, succubi, old hags, demonic monkeys, and other demons such as the Turkish djinn… Is it a djinn?”</p>
<p>“No,” Dean and Madalyn concluded together.</p>
<p>“Well, it’s not a demon…” Kara added, “It’s too subtle for them.”</p>
<p>“Does it say anything about it being dangerous?”</p>
<p>“Uhm,” Kara scrolled through the page.  “While sleep paralysis does not pose any serious health risks, a disorder known as “sudden unexpected death syndrome’ is said to be related. The disorder causes irregular heart rhythms, which the victim can sometimes survive if the heart beat goes back to normal or a defibrillator is used.”</p>
<p>“Whoa, what? You think it’s this unexpected death something?” Dean said, worked up.</p>
<p>Madalyn took the laptop from the distressed Kara. “It says SUDS primarily affects young men… from Thailand or the Philippines.”</p>
<p>“Oh.”</p>
<p>“We should check his heart anyway,” Kara suggested, pressing an ear against Sam’s chest.</p>
<p>The other two waited for her prognosis.</p>
<p>Kara shrugged, “It sounds normal.”</p>
<p>“Elle! Help!” Alexander suddenly shouted down the hallway and they all rushed into Jack’s room. “What do we do?” he asked frantically.</p>
<p>Jack’s breath was very labored and he was writhing on the bed as if in incredible pain. His eyes were pinched closed and his face was pale.</p>
<p>“Do you have a defibrillator?” Dean offered.</p>
<p>“A defibrillator? Is he having a heart attack?” Alexander panicked.</p>
<p>“I don’t think this is SUDS,” said Madalyn.</p>
<p>“SUDS?”</p>
<p>“Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome,” Kara explained.</p>
<p>“What!?”</p>
<p>“Calm down, Andy, we’re trying to figure this out,” Madalyn soothed.</p>
<p>Jack stopped moving and Alexander quickly bent over him to check his condition.</p>
<p>“Check his heartbeat.”</p>
<p>“It’s normal, I think,” he reported.</p>
<p>“I’m going back to check on Sam.” Dean left with Kara close behind.</p>
<p>“What is going on, Elle?” her brother asked helplessly.</p>
<p>Madalyn frowned. “We’ll figure it out, Andy.”</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>“Sam!” he looked up. The demon woman was standing over him. “What’s going on?”</p>
<p>“I have no idea,” he admitted.</p>
<p>“I really think you need to drink. It’ll make you feel better, I promise.”</p>
<p>“Since when do I drink demon blood?” Sam looked disgusted.</p>
<p>“Hey, don’t go all moralistic on me again, okay? It’s for the greater good, remember? It lets you zap demons back to Hell, doesn’t it? It’s just a boost for the special powers that you have, alright?”</p>
<p>“The psychic powers Yellow Eyes gave me?”</p>
<p>“The gifts you have, Sammy.”</p>
<p>He shook his head. “I don’t think Dean would approve.”</p>
<p>“Well, he’s in Hell isn’t he, and if you want to help him, this is how.”</p>
<p>“I don’t think Kara would like it either.”</p>
<p>“Well she’s dead too, isn’t she.”</p>
<p>“What!?” Sam stood up quickly in shock. “How?”</p>
<p>“Lilith’s virgin killing thing! Sam, you’re seriously starting to worry me here. What is going on with you?”</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>“What is going on with them!” Kara stomped around the room. “I’m sick of just waiting around for something to happen!”</p>
<p>“Me too, we’ve got to figure this thing out,” Dean agreed.</p>
<p>“Here, let’s try this.” Madalyn walked into the room holding a small orange bottle. “My mom’s anti-depressant meds. The internet said it might work.”</p>
<p>“Why are rich people always so depressed?” Dean mumbled.</p>
<p>“How do we give it to him?” asked Kara. If he’s in this state I don’t think he can swallow a pill like that.”</p>
<p>“Maybe if we crush it up?” Madalyn suggested.</p>
<p>Alexander wandered into the room while Dean and Kara were attempting to administer the drugs. “I tried reading from the Qu’ran,” he reported, “but I don’t think it did anything.”</p>
<p>“We have to just keep trying things,” his sister insisted. “I also found the medical kit and it has a defib in it in case it comes to that.”</p>
<p>“Ugh!” Kara cried out in frustration. “Sammy, wake up!”</p>
<p>“I read poor diet sometimes brings these episodes on, I’m going to try laying out some food,” Alexander sighed desperately and left again.</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>“What do you mean Kara’s dead?” Sam demanded.</p>
<p>“Uh, as in a doornail? She bit the dust, she’s six feet under, her hourglass ran out.”</p>
<p>Sam felt winded, like his chest had suddenly become too tight to hold in any air.</p>
<p>“Lilith?” he managed after a moment. “Like Lilith who holds Dean’s contract?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, same one.”</p>
<p>“And Dean’s gone too?”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, is there a broken record in here or something? I’m getting tired of repeating myself, Sam.”</p>
<p>“Why didn’t we stop her?”</p>
<p>“Who?”</p>
<p>“Lilith! Why didn’t we stop her from taking Dean and from killing Kara!”</p>
<p>“Lilith might look like a little girl, but she’s pretty BA, Sam. We went up against her and lost big time. You really don’t remember any of this?”</p>
<p>“No, I don’t! Where’s Bobby?”</p>
<p>“Why?”</p>
<p>“I need to talk to him!”</p>
<p>“We’re way off the grid, Sam, even Bobby’s grid. He doesn’t like me, you know, the whole demon thing and what not. He doesn’t trust me.”</p>
<p>“And I do?”</p>
<p>“Well, yeah, Sam! I’m the only one that’s helping you out anymore! I’ve risked my neck siding with a Winchester! I covered your pretty ass when the going got tough and I’m training you to be stronger so that the next time we’re head-to-head with Lilith it won’t be such a landslide! We barely got out of there alive last time.”</p>
<p>“Apparently most of us didn’t.”</p>
<p>“Sam! Focus! Do you want to be able to defeat Lilith or what?”</p>
<p>“I just don’t understand how things got this bad that I’m in bed with a demon! Literally!”</p>
<p>“Get over yourself will you?”</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>A loud clatter sounded from the hallway and the three conscious hunters ran out of Sam’s room.</p>
<p>“He’s gone!” Alexander shouted.</p>
<p>The hunters stepped over the dropped tray of food to find Madalyn’s brother standing over an empty bed.</p>
<p>“Where’d he go? Did you move him?”</p>
<p>They all shook their heads.</p>
<p>“Then what happened? Is this part of the sleep paralysis thing?”</p>
<p>“If it is it’s weird there’s no trace of anything. Hags steal people’s skin and leave the rest, even Freddy Krueger always left behind a body.” The others stared at Madalyn. “I wasn’t saying I thought it was Freddy Krueger.”</p>
<p>“What about a succubus?” Alexander tried.</p>
<p>“I still don’t think it’s a succubus,” Madalyn maintained.</p>
<p>“But Elle, I read that there are demon queens that prey on men. They appear as sirens who lull them into comatose states. Their names were…” he went to his computer, “Eisheth, Naamah, Agrath, and Lilith.”</p>
<p>“Whoa, did you say Lilith?” Dean looked at Madalyn pointedly. “Do you think she’s behind this?”</p>
<p>Madalyn threw up her hands. “Ah… Your guess, dude.”</p>
<p>“Does it say anything else about Lilith?” Dean pressed.</p>
<p>Alexander looked again. “Yeah, it says here that an amulet featuring a shackled figure of Lilith is sometimes used to ward her off.”</p>
<p>“Does it have to be an authentic amulet or can we McGyver one?” Kara asked, looking over her cousin's arm at the image.</p>
<p>“I think we can just draw one. Do you think it’ll help get Jack back from wherever he is?”</p>
<p>“Sorry Andy, I don’t know.”</p>
<p>Alexander copied the amulet’s image in chalk on the floor in Jack’s abandoned room while Kara did the same in Sam’s.</p>
<p>“Why would Lilith be coming after Sam and Jack if it’s my contract she holds and it’s Kara’s blood she wants?” Dean asked Madalyn as they stood in the hallway between the two rooms.</p>
<p>“Beats me,” she responded. “This whole thing just doesn’t add up. It’s a jumble of folklore like someone reading Grimm’s Fairy Tales, but just the cliff-notes.”</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>“Do you see now, Sam Winchester?”</p>
<p>Sam was back in the Newport mansion, lying in his bed, immobilized.</p>
<p>“Who are you?” Sam tried asking, but only managed a gasp.</p>
<p>“Me? I told you, I’m the Ghost of Christmas Present! I know, I know, I’ve been showing you the future, but my creepy cousin has lost his oomph! You need a little nudge, Sam Winchester, and I’m here to give it to you.”</p>
<p>Sam took another labored breath.</p>
<p>“What have you done? Well, nothing quite yet, but you will. The righteous Sam Winchester is about to make some very misguided choices.” A gasp. “What can you do about it? Now that’s something you’ll have to figure out on your own.”</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>“He’s trying to say something!” Kara called out. Her companions rushed into the room and Sam’s lips were indeed moving as if trying to speak. His mutterings quickly turned to deep inhales that grew more and more desperate. “Sam! What’s going on?”</p>
<p>Madalyn pushed her out of the way, holding the medical kit. “He’s going into cardiac arrest, get back!”</p>
<p>“What?” Dean crowded over his brother.</p>
<p>“Dean, I said back up!”</p>
<p>Everyone watched in horror as Sam seized up. Madalyn applied the necessary pads to his chest and charged the defibrillator. She shocked him once and Sam’s body arched up and back down, still unconscious. She tried again, but got the same reaction.</p>
<p>“Third time’s a charm right?” Madalyn charged once more.</p>
<p>Sam’s body flopped back to the bed and his head rolled to the side. Dean and Kara’s faces were frozen and Madalyn looked back at them. “I’m so sorry,” she was saying miserably when a choked cough expelled itself from Sam’s lungs.</p>
<p>Sam rolled to his side and tried to catch his breath.</p>
<p>“Sammy!” Dean and Kara burst out. They tried to rush to him again, but Madalyn still held them back. “Jeez! Let him breathe!”</p>
<p>“Sam? Are you okay?” Dean demanded.</p>
<p>Sam nodded. “What the hell?” he managed after a moment.</p>
<p>“You tell us, man. Oh, is it good to have you back!”</p>
<p>“Sam!” Madalyn let go and Kara wrapped her arms around him, almost forcing the air back out of his lungs.</p>
<p>“Gently!” he pleaded.</p>
<p>After Kara and Dean had their moment of fussing over him, Sam asked again, “What the hell happened?”</p>
<p>“You went full on Insidious on us, man,” Dean explained. “We couldn’t figure out what was doing it to you.”</p>
<p>“Did you see anything?” Kara asked.</p>
<p>“Uhh,” he closed his eyes and tried to remember. “I was frozen… it was like I was awake, but I couldn’t move.”</p>
<p>“Sleep paralysis,” Madalyn offered.</p>
<p>“Yeah… and there was… a guy, with a white beard and a green fur coat… The Ghost of Christmas Present?”</p>
<p>“Is that right, Scrooge?” Dean joked now that his brother seemed fine.</p>
<p>“He said I was about to make a mistake.”</p>
<p>“What kind of mistake?” Dean asked more seriously.</p>
<p>“I don’t know, he wouldn’t tell me, but I think it has something to do with Lilith. Dean, we need to find a way to break your contract with her.”</p>
<p>“What contract?” Alexander asked from the threshold. He had held back to give them all room. They all looked at him now.</p>
<p>“Dean made a crossroads deal,” Madalyn admitted.</p>
<p>“Maddie!” Dean said angrily.</p>
<p>“What? He knows about stuff like this, maybe he can help.”</p>
<p>“You’re gonna have to tell me all the details, but first, can you help me find Jack?”</p>
<p>“What happened to Jack?” Sam asked, out of the loop.</p>
<p>“He went all coma-boy like you,” said Dean. “Except he also went missing.”</p>
<p>“I have to find him.” Alexander implored their help.</p>
<p>They all searched the mansion for any sign.</p>
<p>“Anything?” Alexander looked at Kara and Dean who had just come from separate wings in the house. They shook their heads sadly.</p>
<p>“Your car’s gone.” Madalyn reported, coming in from the garage.</p>
<p>“The Barracuda?”</p>
<p>“No, the purple Pontiac.”</p>
<p>“The GTO? He hates driving that thing!”</p>
<p>“Maybe he wasn’t the one driving,” Madalyn suggested ominously. “I’m sorry, Andy. We’ll find him though.”</p>
<p>“I’ll call Bobby, he can get his feelers out,” Dean offered.</p>
<p>“At least the car’ll stand out like a sore thumb.”</p>
<p>---</p>
<p>“So you’re the lad who’s interrupting my lovely Thanksgiving dinner,” came an accented voice as its source strolled into the grand study. “What? You didn’t think I celebrated your little human holidays? I suppose I don’t normally, but I have a lot to be thankful for these days. Me and my brethren are free to run about up here, out of the heat and the stench. It’s refreshing. Now, what’ve you got for me?”</p>
<p>The interrupter placed a cloth down on the great oak desk and unwrapped it to reveal the glimmering Colt. Crowley’s eyes lit up like a demon’s.</p>
<p>“My, my, now that is worth the disruption. Does it work?”</p>
<p>“Even better than before,” Jack assured him, “but that’s it. I’m out. My debt is paid, so I’m done running errands for you.”</p>
<p>“Almost, Jack, almost.”</p>
<p>END</p>
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